Borivli pooches to get a park of their own

Finally , every day is going to be a field day for pet pooches in Borivli. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is planning to convert an open space - marked as a recreation ground (RG) plot at Borivli (West) into the city's biggest pet park. Over 1,000 families reside at the IC colony. Among them, almost 30 per cent have pets.

Residents of IC Colony rejoice after the announcement of a pet park in the vicinity

Having faced a lot of issues regarding walking area for their pets, some residents approached corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar for help. Much to their delight, Ghosalkar, who will also be funding the project, and some BMC officials of R North Ward announced the development on Friday.

The first pet park came up at Yari Road, Andheri. However, that is around 500 sq metre. "This park will boast of an area spanning across a good 3,500 sq metre," said horticulture assistant of R-North ward, J Mane, making it the largest pet park in the city. The work will begin from next month after an architect is appointed to design the walking tracks and make arrangements for pet toilets so that the ground stays clean.

"I have always faced problems while taking my dog out for a walk as there was no designated place to take him," said Tushar Vyas, an IC Colony resident and an owner of a Golden Retriever. "After this park is made, my dog will feel safe and I will not stress about someone shouting at me. No one will be there to stop us from letting our pets enjoy their mornings and evenings."

The budget has not been decided. However, according to sources, the tracks and toilets will not cost much. "This is something I was looking forward to since a long time," said Ghosalkar. "The residents of the area had asked for my help. As I have a lot of open spaces in my ward, I consulted with the BMC officers and went ahead with the plan," he added.

The best part about this park will be that the maintenance will be in the hands of the pet owners. Nitin Diwekar, one of the residents who had approached the corporator, said, "We as pet owners would be maintaining the park personally.

It will be our responsibility to keep it clean. The pets and their owners will be allowed in only during fixed timings. The park will be kept locked during the rest of the day which will keep out any miscreants and disturbances."u00a0